A few months back I decided that I'd like to try giving one of my prosthetic leg sockets a bit of a makeover. I've always wanted to do something like this, ever since I was a kid! However, I'm not super confident when it comes to actual physical paint, so I never really tried for fear I'd mess it up and get stuck with something I didn't like for the next 3 years. But with the paperwork for my new set of prosthetics being processed and a new set hopefully on the horizon, I decided what better time than now to try doing something new? I'm super happy with the result, I just need to find something a bit sturdier to protect the paint for next time, since it only took me a day or so to take a big chunk of paint off ha ha.
In any case, this was the finished result (before it got scratched):
I had initially wanted to record the whole process for a timelapse video, but thanks to the leg being quite big and kind of awkward shaped, that didn't really work out, so instead I took photos at each stage and decided to make a process blog post instead!
So my first step was to come up with a design. I decided to use a slightly modified version of a digital drawing I'd recently done of Kiesse, one of my characters.
I then started on the actual painting process. I sanded the fibreglass socket a tiny bit and gave it a quick wash to help the paint stick better. I then used masking tape to cover the pile-on (the metal pole under the socket) and the vacuum tube that attaches to the socket to stop any unwanted paint from getting on them.
After that, I gave it a few coats of primer as a base coat. I was able to use my clothesline and hook the foot onto it (with a bit of tape to keep it still) I learned I am terrible at spray painting evenly from this lol. Just as a side note, I also learned why you do not use electrical tape for painting. On a practice attempt I did on an old socket, I used electrical tape instead and when I pulled the tape off, it took all the paint with it, much to my disappointment. After talking to my dad about it (who found this all quite funny) he pointed out that masking tape is less likely to do that, as its made specifically to mask areas while you're painting - hence the name, masking tape.
After the primer dried, I brought it inside and did the “background” of the painting with some dark purple acrylic. It was a bit too dark though, so I decided to do a few more coats with a slightly lighter shade.
Next, I started on Kiesse. I used a cutout I’d made of the lineart of the digital image to get the general proportions right and get everything placed where I wanted it, traced around it and filled in the details from there. This proved to be a bit trickier than anticipated because, in the planning stage, I kind of forgot to take into account that the bottom of the socket is smaller than the top, so I had to make some minor changes on the fly.
After the sketch, I started painting the base colours, then added the shading once those were dry. each had to have a few coats to get the colours to come out as prominent as I wanted, since the green acrylic seemed to be a lot thinner. unfortunately, the dark green I used on Kiesse’s horns and claws was a LOT darker than I expected so it kind of gets lost among the purple. I had tested it on white paper, but in hindsight, I probably should have tested it against the purple directly.
Oh well, that’s something it keep in mind for next time.
After that came the lineart. Nothing much to say on this part, it actually went mostly to plan. I also added in the…splashes? the purple and blue splash pattern in the background.
And finally, I took it outside the next day and sprayed it with some clear-coat in an attempt to protect the paint. As I've already mentioned, this doesn't seem to be enough on its own. The clear coat protects it from water and weather, but not so much against falling over, bumps, knocks etc. I was told that resin might be a better option and is definitely something I'll look into in the future.
The clear coat actually did something to the colours though, which, while very unexpected, was a pleasant surprise. It seemed to make the colours pop more and become more vibrant!
The final result is something I’m pretty happy with. It’s nothing professional by any means, but hey, I haven’t touched acrylic paints since I was in primary school. All things considered, I am super happy with the outcome and I think with a bit of tweaking to the method, I can make a lot of improvements fairly easily for next time!
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